Call It Off

SHABAZ! Today marks the day the Do Not Call list finally arrives in the frozen tundra of Canada, after some time successfully in use by our American brethren. My history with telemarketers is long and storied, and involves many levels of hilarity and douchebaggery, depending how I felt at the time. I've been outright ornery when the time wasn't right, but more amusing were the times I treated them to stories as to why I couldn't engage in their services. Whether it was building a bomb in my basement or recovering from the sex change I've frequently had a perfectly acceptable reason why I couldn't buy their fine product. I once cried on the phone to the cops who wanted me to buy circus tickets because a clown had killed my father and gotten away with it. Shortly thereafter I was tipped that telemarketers weren't allowed to hang up on you.. big mistake. Now I would attempt to keep them on the phone as long as possible. I once told one of them that Survivor was on and they really should be watching it, then said I'd put the phone to the TV and we'd talk when it was over. I checked back in 15 minutes and they were gone. Foiled!

Then, I turned 30. And somewhere around age 30 I was no longer amused by random phone calls from people looking for Mr. or Mrs. Jaysoup. In fact, I wasn't amused by the phone at all and stopped answering it. If I don't recognize the name or number, it goes to the machine. If I check messages you have mere seconds to gain my attention or you get the 3-3-7. So you can imagine that today comes with internal fanfare as I prepare to enjoy life on the other side of a do not call list.

Here's the official Government link: www.dncl.gc.ca. At press time here it's already unavailable, evidence that I'm far from the only Canadian who doesn't want to be called. If you're one of those rare birds that doesn't trust the Government there's Michael Geist's www.ioptout.ca, promising a wider-ranging blanket, and some key advice, to get around a few of the exemptions.

Ah, yes.. exemptions. Our Government saw fit to offer a few of them, meaning that after you register on the Government's website you will still receive calls from: registered charities, businesses with prior business relationships, political parties, survey companies, and newspapers. The good news? Each company is still required to have an internal Do Not Call list, one which they must add you to on request and provide a confirmation code. If they continue to call you afterwards, you can complain and they're subject to stiff fines or the removal of their telephone lines. So should you receive a call from a company simply state you wish to be added to their Do Not Call list, and demand a confirmation code. The Toronto Star is the only company I've spoken with that refused to do this, and I threatened a phone call to the CRTC if I received another call from them. I haven't received one.

So, while not perfect, it's a new dawn for the privacy-enjoying Canadian. Assuming, that is, these sites go back up. Enjoy!

Today's Random Links
Trafalgar Brewery is once again allowing you to "Vote With Your Throat".
Kuku Klock, the free Swiss-made online alarm clock!
Franken Berry flavoured Fruit By the Foot!

Today's Returning Shows
Rick Mercer Report (CBC, 8 p.m.)

Now Playing
FAN590 Live Stream

Stage Fright

Ok, so the picture - drawn years ago in MS Paint - is slightly outdated. It was probably oddly appropriate that while my minister was preaching the third sermon in his How to Live Like You're Dying series that I finally, after 18 years of playing guitar, got up on a stage in front of a couple hundred people and played some music yesterday morning. I was first in the band to show up for practice, fingers raw from a week of frequent practice, and was given a place to stand and get my gear ready. All four songs I would be playing were new to me at the start of the week, and one in particular was driving me into fits trying to get through as the chords were rather elaborate. The team were great, quickly making me feel welcome and answering questions as they came. For the most part, however, I was thrown into it without a parachute and just tried not to mess it all up. After practice, and while waiting for our time on stage, I found a surprising calm washed over me and I was just ready to go. The word came and we bounded up on stage, grabbed our instruments, and were soon tearing through the first song. 30 minutes seemed like 10 and when it was done I couldn't wait to be doing it again. I guess this means I've got the bug now, and October 12th is my next opportunity to get up and play. I'll try to remember to pre-announce that in the days leading up so any of you that want to catch it would be welcome to attend.

'Survivor' is getting some publicity for their gratuitous blurring on last Thursday's premiere episode, including this YouTube video that's actually quite amusing. That said, there's more publicity for what they failed to blur, namely one male contestant's unfortunate wardrobe malfunction. I'm totally not linking to it directly, but head over here for starters if that's your thing.

This YouTube video showcases Ortega's new taco ad with famous US Olympians. Send it to your friends now so you can be in the early stages of the next viral phenomenon, as you only have to watch it once to know that their idea of having Shawn Johnson talk about how Ortega makes her taco pop is so highly inappropriate that people can't help but tell all their friends about it.

Today's Random Links
The anthrax letter suspect was apparently plotting to kill 'The Mole'.
AC Slater interviews Zach Morris for 'Extra'; popculturelicious!
Robert Plant is sticking a knife in Zeppelin reunion rumours.

Today's Returning Shows
Chuck (Citytv, 8 p.m.)

Now Playing
Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience

Pilots

I miss working and I miss the gym. I am not getting used to being home, and I don't wish to be here anymore. I'm reminded why I didn't want to work from home again as I roam to this little office at the end of the hall. I am enjoying putting some action to my thoughts, though. I've got a social media project underway with one of our semi-regulars, and I'm having a second meeting with a gentleman tonight who will be assisting me in filming a pilot for one of my TV show ideas some weekend next month. I'm not getting any younger, of course, and there'll always be a tomorrow to put things off for. Again, I note, youth is wasted on the young.

Tonight marks a return for an OA favourite - Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden - and although we don't spoil the show around these parts anymore I'm thinking a few of us will be tuning in. CBS is taking the show HD this time around, prompting some concern by Jeff Probst that his flaws will be on display for all to see. The National Post scored an interview with Probst discussing, among other things, the good vs. evil plotline we can look forward to, and the animal factor. Tying in a note from yesterday, contestant Charlie Herschel announced he's been Clay Aiken's confidante the past couple years, prior to the former 'Idol' runner-up coming out of the closet. Holding perhaps slightly more impressive claims to fame this time around are Olympic Gold medalist Crystal Cox, professional video gamer Ken Hoang, and actress Jessica Kiper.

Today's Random Links
Wilco are offering a free "I Shall Be Released" cover if you promise to vote.
Prairie Morning Bread - baked with love.. and other things!
How best to use 280,951 Post-It Notes.. \o/ \o/

Today's Returning Shows
ER (CTV, 8 p.m.)
Grey's Anatomy (CTV, 9 p.m.)
My Name is Earl (E!, 8 p.m.)
Survivor: Gabon (Global, 8 p.m.)
The Office (Global, 10 p.m.)
Ugly Betty (Citytv, 8 p.m.)

Now Playing
Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

This past month or so I've found renewed interest in all things internet marketing and social media, and begun a crash course in building my understanding back to where it was, and even surpassing it. This website, now just completing its 14th year of operation, has become a crash course in search engine optimization and marketing effectiveness. At the peak I was entertaining over 10,000 unique visitors a month, mostly via search engines. Of course, four years ago or so my updates became decidedly less regular and traffic, appropriately, died down. I went so far as removing the site from search engine spiders when I was seeking a job prior to Ingram Micro, which should have put a death spike through any traffic hopes I may have. That said, oddly enough over 1,000 of you are still piling in on a monthly basis. More interesting to me is that less than 20% of my traffic is search engine related right now, as I build that effectiveness back up again, and more than half is inbound linking from other sites. In fact, over 1,700 websites link to this one, which blows my mind.

So today I visited www.websitegrader.com to test the current marketing effectiveness of the site as I begin the process of raising that effectiveness. I was ecstatic to get this review:

A website grade of 91/100 for www.overanything.com means that of the hundreds of thousands of websites that have previously been evaluated, our algorithm has calculated that this site scores higher than 91% of them in terms of its marketing effectiveness. The algorithm uses a proprietary blend of over 50 different variables, including search engine data, website structure, approximate traffic, site performance, and others.

I could instantly raise the effectiveness with some back end tools that are currently being implemented, and perhaps new blogging software that would allow for different META tags and TITLES on each page (currently, my age-old blog software is repeating the same tags for all 3,000+ pages). Even my traffic ranking is pegged by Alexa as being in the top 12.25% of all websites. Go figure. Should be fun to see where I can take things from here as I proactively begin to put the tools I've learned, and continue to learn, into action.

Today's Random Links
PETA urges Ben & Jerry's to make breast milk ice cream.
Clay Aiken is gay! Wow. Who saw that one coming?
HBO Canada is launching next month.

Today's Returning Shows
Criminal Minds (9 p.m.)
CSI: NY (10 p.m.)
Lipstick Jungle (10 p.m.)

Now Playing
Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

Guitar Strings and Foolish Things

So after 18 years of playing guitar, and one single outdoor gig, I'm hitting the stage at my church this Sunday for my first time performing on a stage in front of people. Little bit nervous about that. Thankfully, they're very understanding and have assured me that they will allow no volume to come from my rig, so essentially I'll be playing along but nobody will hear, so I'm free to screw up all I want with freshman jitters. My first real time on stage, where my noise will be audible, is October 12th. If Ingram gave me one thing it was the chance to get my public speaking fears under control, but this is going to be a real test of that control. All I have to do now is learn four songs I've never heard before Sunday morning, in between interviews this week. Good times!

Ever wanted to be a superhero? Kodak's giving you a chance with www.makemesuper.com. Check it out and enjoy your temporary super-ness.

Congrats to our very own KP, once again getting published! This time it's 'Replacement Pitcher'. Sadly, we must wait until next June to obtain our copies. Next up is 'Fess Up, Jessup'. *sigh*

Now, t'is my 8th anniversary today so I must get to preparing the house for a pleasant welcome home to the lass that's put up with me all this time.

Today's Random Links
'Big Brother' Dan finally answers the question: Why so much yelling in the diary room?
Google's iPhone killer - the G1 or Dream Phone(?) - is out soon.
Sorry Warner, 'Hari Puttar' is still coming to theatres.

Today's Returning Shows
Law & Order: SVU (10 p.m.)

Now Playing
Leo Kottke - 6- and 12-String Guitar

High Head Blues

The election is off to a slow start here in Caledon, although I get the impression things are about to take off purely from a visibility factor. Our local Liberal candidate is a young professional named Rebecca Finch; you can read up on her on her campaign website at www.rebeccafinch.ca. I had actually gone through her site last week and was looking for the right time to post, and seeing as Stephane Dion was called out for endorsing her today in light of his anti-Chris Reid comments it should be an interesting ride.

Aside from her day job Rebecca is Editor at Large of a site called The Metaball, stated to be "keeping our politicians accountable". The site contains any number of opinion pieces running through racism, Christianity, and of course, politics. The item in question by the Tory campaign is a campaign blog started back in June, in anticipation of her campaign no doubt.

Rebecca has a lot to say on her blog, and it's of no surprise I disagree with much of it. One article that made me question her logic and ability to govern our riding is titled 'Step Out of The Car, Ma'am, and Show Me Your Vein'. I can imagine some politicians were scared of random alcohol tests when they started as well, and I'm hoping most of us like the idea we can drive without concern of drug-fueled cars in our area. Finch's argument against these random tests includes a few gems:

Say you're at a party where people are smoking pot in an enclosed area. When you leave that party, if you are pulled over for one of these tests, you will come up positive for marijuana... This could be true, and the reason you'd come up positive is because you'd be high on marijuana. Perhaps it would be in one's best interest to not be in the habit of driving home from parties where people are smoking up in enclosed areas.

Say you're addicted to poppy seeds and have eaten tons of them in a short time before you're randomly pulled over - you're going to show a false positive for opium or heroin. I'll ignore the apparent rampant addiction to poppy seeds I wasn't aware was present in society, but I won't ignore the fact that testing positive for opium due to a poppy seed addiction would not be a false positive; you'd be high on opium!

I'm interested in whether this blog, and the logic held within, starts garnering even more attention on this election. Suffice to say I have no intention of voting for Rebecca Finch, even if I agree with her that our incumbent David Tilson is taking this riding for granted.

Today's Random Links
A Flash game that allows you to pick Mark-Paul Gosselaar's new hairstyle!
Gospelr = Twitter for Christians. I guess the domain was available.
Microsoft used a Mac to create their "I'm a PC" ads.. oops.

Today's Premieres
Big Bang Theory (8 p.m.)
Boston Legal (10 p.m.)
CSI: Miami (10 p.m.)
Dancing with the Stars (9 p.m.)
Dr. 90210 (10 p.m.)
Heroes (9 p.m.)
How I Met Your Mother (8:30 p.m.)
Two and a Half Men (9 p.m.)

Now Playing
Matt Nathanson - Some Mad Hope

Let the Truth Sting

Good news, 'Canadian Idol' fans. Every year here in Bolton we have the Fall Fair at the Albion Bolton Community Centre. It's got a midway with rides and prizes, 24-hour goldfish, carnies, drag races and demolition derbies, cattle, just about all the fun stuff you might expect. This year, however, it's got Drew Wright and Mookie Morris. Seems quite the coup to snag these two 'Idol' hopefuls who will be performing surrounding bike races and the demolition derby. Drew's in on Friday night, Mookie on Saturday. Who's in? I can sweeten the deal by pointing you towards The Angry Tomato and their alligator appetizer. A chance to hang out with Mookie Morris, named after the game-winning Mookie Wilson home run, and eat alligator meat! True story.

Excellent news on the 'Hockey Night in Canada' front, assuming we're all over the fact that the theme song changed. Bob Cole is being replaced by Jim Hughson! The next game I hear Bob Cole call without frequent screw-ups will be the first, and I'm happy with this news.

Finally, 'Big Brother' fans, check out this blog posting from a fan who attended the finale for some insight from inside. Turns out most of the signs are plants by CBS! It's true, the dude with the yellow "MARRY ME, KEESHA!" sign didn't want to marry Keesha at all. Why bother, he can get the milk for free on YouTube.

Happy birthday to my sister, Kim! You ARE the birthday boy or girl. ;)

Today's Random Links
Researchers have finally cracked the 3-ply barrier - like wiping with a lamb!
The funniest ad containing full frontal male nudity I've ever seen. (NSFW)
The best DVD news in a long time, I'll be in line October 28th.

Now Playing
Marc Broussard - S.O.S. Save Our Soul

Traffic Jam

So I find myself in the unenviable position of having received a traffic ticket, my first in quite some time. In fact, since gas prices and old age drove me to start driving like my grandmother (slow and steady wins the mileage race) I've now received a traffic ticket and been involved in a fender bender. It's enough to make a guy want to go back to Death Race 2000. This time around, however, I've decided (on the advice of the officer) to fight the ticket.

So here I thought it was really easy; sign your intention on the ticket, mail it in, wait for a trial date, dude doesn't show, skip home lighting cigars with the $100 you saved. This, however, is not at all how it works. You have to actually get up, drive to a court house, stand in line, get a bunch of stamps, and now wait six to eight months for a trial date. I can't imagine how impressed I would have been had I taken a day off work to do something like this, I suppose the belief is people will just pay up to avoid the hassle and lost opportunity cost of a day off. I did come home to a couple interview requests, though, so it appears everything's coming up Jessup today.

I've somehow managed to become addicted to Twitter, even after thinking it was ridiculous when I first signed up. For me, I can see it being a fun way to keep family and friends up to date during vacations or extended absences and such. I'm also enjoying a look into the daily lives of people I know only socially. Strange little beast. I need to come up with a social networking website so I can get my share of the interweb billions. Stay tuned.

Today's Random Links
Prefix looks at the 10 best albums coming out Uncle Tupelo's break-up.
Ron Wilson thinks the Leaf defense core is strong like bull.
McCain is to the Blackberry as Gore is to the interweb?

Today's Returning Shows
Biggest Loser: Families (8:00PM)
House (8:00PM)

Now Playing
The Sadies - New Seasons

Dance Me Outside

Microsoft is spending roughly a thousand billion dollars on marketing Vista in an attempt to showcase it just ain't that bad, and the centrepiece of this campaign is the new Gates/Seinfeld ads. For those who haven't seen them - or want to see them again - you'll find them below the drop down. Seemingly meant to combat the famous PC/Mac Guy ads that have been everywhere for the past few years, the first ad featured Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld shoe shopping in a mall together, culminating in the esteemed Microsoft founder tugging at his underpants. The second, just released late last week, runs almost five minutes long and tells the story of the two moving into a house to connect with "regular people", this time culminating in a Bill Gates robot dance. I personally find them amusing, but then again my sense of humour has long been a little bit left of centre. Whether it's building sales of Vista isn't quite clear yet.

What might go further to fixing the damaged rep of Vista is 'The Mojave Experiment', essentially Microsoft's rendition of the Pepsi Challenge. Random consumers were asked their (largely negative) opinions on Vista, then shown Microsoft's new Mojave OS, the successor to Vista. With general favourable reviews received the unveiling showed that Mojave IS Vista, and hilarity would ensue. Of course, it's still not cool to like Microsoft so the general pop is ripping them for their "deceptive marketing practices", while ZDNet stands alone in asking "what if Apple had conducted the Mojave Experiment?" I can tell you what; they'd be proclaimed as geniuses. Odd world.

Today's Random Links
Final 'Guitar Hero: World Tour' track list. No Alanis! w00t!
One church sign's take on 'I Kissed a Girl'.. hilarious!
How far would you go for a Tootie Pie?

Now Playing
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Follow the Lights

Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart

Carrying the byline "(the) last time (the) weather service used such forceful language was in regard to Katrina" on CNN the National Weather Service in the United States has warned residents of the Galveston Bay area of Texas to leave their homes immediately or "face certain death". The expectation is a wall of water up to 22 feet high crashing into the mainland, stretching 20 miles in to Houston, all coming to a head sometime in the early-to-mid hours of Saturday. The Pirates-Astros game in Houston last night was mostly empty, and their next two games have been postponed indefinitely while everyone waits to see what happens. I can't imagine what it's like to sit back and wait for "certain death", and the agony of what you've left behind to everybody that's heeded the advice to get up and go. Thoughts and prayers to them all this morning.

Moving to less tragic discussions I have to admit that the promise of seeing my old 'Dog Eat Dog' girlfriend, Brooke Burke, on TV again caused me to take in a couple episodes of FOX's 'Hole in the Wall' this week. For those unfamiliar it's a remake of a Japanese game show and is essentially a form of human Tetris whereby contestants wearing silver unitards attempt to jam their bodies through oddly shaped holes in walls for points. My favourite part, oddly enough, is the very serious deep-voiced announcer's catch phrase of "IT'S TIME.. TO FACE.. THE HOLE!" Here's a little video to help showcase some of the hilarity that ensues every Thursday at 8, and an interview with Brooke Burke by Zap2it.

Today's Random Links
If you hate Gordon Ramsay you may want to boycott FOX for a few years.
The American media is starting to pick up on Canada having a gay 'Idol'.
Nike showcases another example of poorly placed advertising.

Now Playing
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

What's Left Behind

Here we are again, seven years later. Yet still it's hard to wake up on September 11th and not be taken back to where we all were, and how the world has changed since. I still find myself haunted regularly both by the non-stop coverage of the events of that day during that week in 2001, but perhaps even more so by being at the site in November of 2001. It seems my flash presentation has long since stopped working, but those who remember it know a first-hand view of the destruction was more than a little disturbing. I'm glad to see most of today's coverage has focused on the event and survivors, not on the politics surrounding it, which is how it should be in my opinion.

On lighter topics let's focus on the Blue Jays for a moment. Last night ended a 10-game winning streak, and a chance to tie a team record of 11 wins in a row. What was more interesting was a win last night would have made 11 wins in a row against teams with winning records, and that would have set a new MLB record. They currently sit seven games back of the Boston Red Sox for the wild card, and face the same Bosox seven more times this season. Which, of course, means JP will sit tight and replace his vacant second starting pitcher under the false belief that he's got a team ready to compete next season. Ignoring the fact that teams are now dealing with expanded rosters including lesser talented rookies, and excluding the fact this same team spent most of the year mired in mediocrity. Argh.

Oh, and good news - Mats Sundin might become a Senator! Moohahaha...

Today's Random Links
Too bad you don't live in Pittsburgh, Cliff, where Sid delivers your tickets.
Mark Burnett finally takes on my 'Rock Star 3' "build a band" suggestion.
100 free online Ivy League courses you should take just for fun

Now Playing
FAN590 Live Stream

Cemetery Savior

While heading up to see my family in Barrie last night I'd decided to take a look for any geocaches that might exist along Highway 27, and was surprised to see that the past couple years have provided quite a few. One of particular interest was Jeepers Creepers Returns, seemingly found in a cemetery right next to the main road. I arrived to find a Pioneer cemetery, burial ground for many of the pioneers who'd settled in the area roughly near Newton Robinson many years ago. It was obvious the cemetery - found at the corner of Highway 27 and 12th Line - had been there a long time, and some markers noted it was completely redone and fixed up in 1985. It's hidden behind a small gate and starts with many markers full of plaques and even a sign-in book, at which point my GPS led me up a nearby hill and into the tree covering. The pic to the side there is what I found at the top, a mix of modern grave markers and roughed up old broken down headstones, all in various positions and states, and haphazardly placed so as to make it a bit difficult to roam through without stepping on a burial ground (if you're apprehensive about that sort of thing). Unfortunately, as I was already late from three other geocaches, I didn't have a lot of time to visit but I know I'm heading back very soon, it was quite something to see.

Oh, and our final note for the day pertains to this study of the brain's response to sitcoms. Turns out I was right all along; 'The Simpsons' is hilarious, 'Seinfeld' is pretty good, and 'Friends' is poop. Take it to the bank!

Today's Random Links
KFC is getting some publicity behind moving their secret blend of herbs and spices.
Have you seen the new Yonge-Dundas Square Intersection?

Now Playing
The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia

State of Love and Trust

The illustrious Michael Coren was the guest speaker at Nashville Community Church not far from Bolton here yesterday. The star of the appropriately named 'The Michael Coren Show' and regular articles in the National Post and Sun Media papers, Coren is probably best known for being a slightly controversial social conservative. His talk was on what place religion holds in politics, and had I known he was coming there in advance it might have been a great chance for some of our local liberals to join as he did open the floor to any questions people had. Of particular interest to me were a few points, and the authenticity of them can certainly be argued in comments.

First - the separation of church and state. Interesting, he noted, as it's actually an American policy and not a Canadian one, and was actually instituted to keep the state out of the church and not vice versa. His argument was that the founding fathers of the USA, most of them Christians from England, had experienced religious persecution by the Church of England and wanted to ensure similar things didn't happen in their new country. He went on to note that, in his experience, it's typically the most anti-American people arguing for the division of church and state in Canada, which I suppose is somewhat ironic. His second point on this topic, which I agree with and found interesting, is that when people demand the division of church and state they're actually simply demanding that people not be allowed to have their thoughts and deeds be guided by their Christianity. His evidence was around the general reluctance of the media, or people in general, to criticize a person of Jewish or Muslim faith who involve themselves in politics while still publicly holding to their belief system. Yet, a Christian politician guided by his morality would be subject to ridicule and a lack of acceptance of that morality. Interesting topics for sure, and the 90 minutes went by quickly.

Oh, and remember this post from four months ago where I proclaimed the pending death of the Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich within two years? Turns out I may have been generous - www.savethebreakfastsandwich.com is reporting they're gone before this year is through. Inexplicably, they're also trying to save it.

Today's Random Links
The Star writes about Neustadt village, still home of the best brewery tour money can buy.
KP Wee criticizes A-Rod; time to put some money on his late season resurgence.
Hobie from Baywatch now has his own sex tape. Make it all stop.

Now Playing
FAN590 Live Stream

Bulletproof Weeks

I admit it, I really want a Magic Bullet. It all started innocently enough late a couple Saturdays back when Paul and I had been watching some music DVDs and strumming on guitars to find 'Blind Date' on. 30-minutes of retro fun folded into infomercials, and in our tired haze it seemed a great idea to watch. What was unveiled before us was the single greatest infomercial of all time: The Original Magic Bullet, aka the personal versatile counter-top magician. I was so fascinated by this device's ability to rip through everything from salsa to smoothies it wasn't until afterwards I found myself asking the important questions: Who are these people? Why is only one of them hung over? Why are they having fettuccine alfredo for breakfast? Where'd the "nasty, stinky garlic" lady come from; is she Mimi's mother? Let's be honest, I don't care; I need an Original Magic Bullet so I can make omelets and breakfast margaritas. The two for $100 deal makes my Christmas shopping hella-easy this year as well.

I shouldn't allow this post to escape without thanking Cliff for inviting me along last night to the Jays/Twins game on some free ducats he snagged off the Jays website. It wasn't hard to figure out why tickets were free with approximately 500 people present for the singing of the anthems. Like stealthy ninjas we (Cliff, House, Mike, myself) slowly moved our way to improved seats, at one point groping the foul pole (not a pole!) presumably to say we did. Absolutely nothing of interest took place, an oddity for me and the Jays, but a good time was had by all as we took home the 9-0 victory. A big up yours to Gretzky's for baiting us with the promise of a Mookie Morris concert only to find out they hadn't changed the sign since he'd played last week. Apparently both Mookie and Wayne Gretzky are liars.

Speaking of YouTube I need to thank Sionne for this awesome viral video for 'Tropic Thunder'. If you haven't seen it yet (the video, not the movie) check it out below the drop-down.

Today's Random Links
They're making a movie about Facebook.. anybody else smell Oscar?
The must-have desktop accessory - the Desk Top Butt Station!
What if Star Trek was actually the Love Boat?

Now Playing
The Autumn Defense - Circles

Sugar Mountain

Even without a gym to go to post-haste after work on a daily basis anymore I'm happy to say that I've not yet gained any of the weight back, seemingly hovering at a tidy 174. I can't wait to be in a position to sign up for a gym again and start those final nine pounds to the 165 goal that's been 11 years coming now. In only three more pounds I'll have lost 70, and it's got me thinking that I'd be crazy not to put fingers to keys and employ a little SEO to try and sell my own little lifestyle guide slash diet plan. Of course, needing to purchase all new clothes could not have come at a worse time. Thankfully, seeing as I'm too old to care about fashion, I've also started pulling out my 11-year-old shirts. Like NBC's Thursday nights, if you haven't seen them they're new to you!

This little post sparked by the news that the long-suffering High-Fructose Corn Syrup industry requires more profits and won't take this public paddling lying down. The Corn Refiners Association have gone through the trouble of creating SweetSurprise, a new website offering up hardened sweetener facts like "sweeteners play an important role in a healthy, balanced diet." Referencing such illustrious groups as the FDA - yes, the same that banned stevia many years ago when urged to do so by those with deeper pockets - the site pleads with you to believe that this by-product of the lowly corn stalk is no different than real sugar, even employing the meaningless "natural" term. Yes, it's true, there's no jurisdiction on the term natural, and thus it means nothing. They fail to mention that HFCS turns off your appetite suppression, hence why it's so much easier to drink 2L of pop today than it was when you were younger. Too bad their FAQ wasn't a Wiki or I could have added it in.

AdFreak, my favourite marketing blog read, reminds us of similar good times for the cigarette industry with this ad for Chesterfield cigarettes that provides indisputable evidence behind the goodness of cigarettes.

Today's Random Links
Williamsburg’s Hasidic Jews are not pleased with 90210 advertising!
Austin City Limits has an insanely good artist lineup this year.
Laura likes my life list - can't wait to see hers!

Now Playing
Richard Buckner - Since

A Thousand Tiny Pieces

Today marks the release (finally!) of the long rumoured Google web browser. Titled Google Chrome (and available here) it's launching for Windows only, although the promise of Apple and Linux is coming down the pipe. I've downloaded it but not yet installed as I've been knee deep in research tonight, but should have a chance to give it the old run-through tomorrow. Have you tried it out yet?

Speaking of Google I was amused to read up on the latest misuse of Interweb resources by Cuil, the Google Killer (ha!) from earlier this summer. A new search engine meant to cut a swath of destruction through the big G, instead, Cuil has met mockery and general disgust all while, apparently, "completely hammering (sites it indexes) with traffic." Gotta love the tale of the Cuil spider visiting one site 70,000 times in one month and sucking out 2GB of data. I'm totally not linking to it, my little server hamster can't handle anywhere near 70,000 non-unique visits.

On the job front I should note that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is definitely the hot topic as of late, and my web background is helping garner some attention towards suitable roles. Interesting that this blog right here has been my trial by fire (and by accident) into that world. I always have, and continue to, get a ton of search engine traffic purely based on the ridiculous amount of content that can be found here. 3,002 posts as of clicking publish on this here post .. I didn't even realize the 3,000th anniversary hit on the Clarity post. To paraphrase the disappointing conclusion of 'Medal of Honor: Allied Assault'.. "would you look at that..."

Today's Random Links
ATT Ontario Beer Fans: LCBO Autumn Ales and Hallowe'en Beers Releases.
The Dears release a new album - and a new tour - in less than a month!
Don LaFontaine, whose film voiceovers ruled, has sadly passed.

Now Playing
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble